Hardly a day goes by without an announcement about another initiative to reduce plastic waste, whether government plans, business strategies or community-led projects. This is great news. Although not the first to highlight the problem of plastic waste, BBC’s ‘Blue Planet 2’ presented by Sir David Attenborough has effectively moved single-use plastic waste from being a niche concern to an accepted challenge that we all need to address. But with all the national noise it can be difficult to work out what is happening locally, and in particular the opportunities to take action at a personal level.

So what is happening in Reading? How can our individual choices help drive forward the move to a less plastic Reading? Here are some of the stories relating directly to Reading that the Reading Sustainability Centre team and friends have spotted.

Reducing the need for single-use plastic

Obviously the ‘easiest’ way to reduce single-use plastic is not to use single use plastic items in the first place. Easier said than done, as social media campaigns like Greenpeace’s #PointlessPlastic are illustrating. There are also plenty of situations where plastic is currently the best option. But there are also a growing number of outlets in Reading that are beginning to offer alternatives.

Challenging plastic drinking straws

Plastic straws, like plastic carrier bags before them, have become emblematic of the sort of change that we need to make. The University of Reading and Reading University Students Union recently decided that they were not only going to stop offering plastic straws with drinks across their bars and catering outlets but were also going to make a small charge for the biodegradable alternative to encourage people to think about whether they really needed a straw at all. A number of national pub, hotel and restaurant chains with outlets in Reading have also announced their intention to ditch plastic straws including Wetherspoons, Pret-a-Manger and Costa, Wagamama, Malmaison and All-Bar-One. Keen to build on this momentum, a group of students are currently developing plans to approach other pubs, clubs and restaurants in the town to encourage them to also ditch plastic straws in favour of biodegradable or reusable alternatives. We can all do our bit as well by deciding to #refusethestraw if we are unnecessarily offered one. Some bars and restaurants have even put up messages informing customers that they won’t put a straw in a drink unless one is requested, plastic or paper. The combination of people refusing to accept a drink with a plastic straw, people tweeting pictures of unnecessary straws (with hashtags like #strawssuck, #refusethestraw and #thelaststraw) and outlets that use straws deciding to get ahead of changing public attitudes make it a real possibility that Reading could quite quickly become free of plastic straws.

Actively choosing alternatives to plastic

As well as ‘refusing the straw’, there is a growing range of examples of people in Reading actively seeking out or making alternatives to products that rely on single use plastics. For example, experimenting with making a reusable beeswax and linen alternative to clingfilm – great for covering leftovers to put in the fridge – as well as using shampoo that comes in a bar. Some of these are less about developing new products than rediscovering approaches used ‘pre-plastic’. Back to the future?!

Reusing rather than binning plastic and other materials

Another approach is to actively avoid treating plastic as single use – reusing plastic where possible or replacing it with something that is reusable where it isn’t.

Already there are indications of a growing refill network in Reading. At the start of March there was only one refill point in Reading on the Refill app, the pioneering Ground Up Cafe. Last week the number had jumped to 26.

Recycling more of what we cannot reuse

In those situations where single use plastics are unavoidable, then the challenge becomes to make sure as much of it is recycled or disposed of considerately as possible so that less ends up making its way in to the environment (and on to programmes like ‘Blue Planet 2’). Again, there is plenty of stuff happening locally.

Improved kerbside collections

Reading Borough Council and Re3, its waste management partner, have recently increased the range of plastics they accept in Reading’s regular domestic recycle bin collections. It will be interesting to see how this affects recycling rates in Reading. However, a common challenge for waste management companies across the country remains contamination – materials that cannot currently be recycle being mixed with those that can as well as materials that can be recycled but which are covered in food or ‘other things’ that make it difficult or hazardous to recycle. We all need to get better at remembering what can and cannot go in which bin and in what condition. The situation is not helped by variations in recycling practice across the country, even in neighbouring boroughs. WRAP is currently working with local authorities, waste management contractors, recyclers, producers and retailers to develop proposals for greater harmonisation of recycling options and systems across the country.

Redesigning products to reduce waste and improve recycling

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has done much to popularise the concept of the Circular Economy. The Zero Waste movement, which grew out of the concern of a number of communities around the world to find a positive alternative to the construction of incineration plants in their community, similarly challenges us to view waste as a resource. Both challenge the linear approach to waste management by adding a fourth goal: reduce, reuse, recycle and redesign. Two examples of redesign that are currently gaining a lot of press coverage are disposable cups that can be recycled and tea bags that don’t contain plastic. At a local level, the University of Reading are currently piloting a bottle that uses innovative technology to offer a customisable range of drinks, in a reusable bottle. Owners of a Sustain It bottle can top up at a number of vending machines dotted around the campus, which also dispense free water refills. The Sustain It bottles are fitted with a chip that pairs with the machine and automatically charges the user’s account for the top up. Rather neat. Reading is the first university to use the system in the UK. There are bound to be other examples of local innovation. It’d be interesting to hear about existing companies, start-ups and community projects in Reading that are using design and innovation to reduce waste too.

Getting involved and taking action locally

It is exciting to see so much happening, as well as a bit daunting. The challenge now is to make connections to build the momentum to put Reading at the forefront of removing unnecessary single-use plastics from our waste stream and so the wider environment. Who is up for the challenge?

If you would like to get involved Transition Town Reading, Reading Sustainability Centre and a group of Reading university students are starting to build a coalition of local groups, organisations and individuals working on projects to reduce plastic waste. Some people are passionate about straws, others reusable coffee cups or knowing where they can refill their water bottle with tap water while a few of us get excited about policy and strategy. The idea is to harness all the talents towards the common goal of helping Reading get as close as possible to sending zero single use plastics to landfill or the ocean. We aim to work together on some bigger projects, but mostly our focus is on better communication and sharing of knowledge between projects.

On holiday in Hong Kong, Tony wrote to say that “without even asking and with no additional charge we were very surprised to get stainless steel straws in our soft drinks at the Cali-Mex Mexican restaurant in Sai Kung”.

Could this happen in Reading?

Tony and daughter with the metal straws that just automatically came with their drinks

A timely article from Chris Cheeseman, Professor of Materials Resources Engineering at Imperial College London and an Associate of the Grantham Institute. He stands up for the versatility of the plastics that have made them such a central part of modern life, but have also resulted in them ending up in places they shouldn’t.

Part of the challenge is to improve recycling rates. Not only in the UK but also amongst the 2 billion people in the world for whom there is no waste collection system. But it is also for designers, product developers and materials engineers to do more to design for recycling and for entrepreneurs to find ways to make more from waste in moves towards a circular economy.

Public concern about plastic pollution, partly catalysed by Blue Planet II, coupled with China’s decision to ban imports of low grade plastic waste for recycling, has created a ‘golden opportunity’ for change that needs to be grasped. Politicians have responded by promising regulations to reduce plastic waste and some companies have announced how they are reducing single use plastic in their products. But, Chris argues, the biggest impact will come from innovations in materials and design that helps create a more circular economy. He also argues that we desperately need to support the development of proper waste management in developing countries.

Last summer I read a number of articles in the newspapers about the plight of the oceans and the sea creatures wrestling with plastic detritus. These were usually followed by stories about people trying to live and shop without buying plastics, and just how difficult this can be. I am not one for extremes but I thought I would have a go at leaving out as many bits of plastic as possible. To date, the greatest success I have had has been changing to bars of soap instead of using plastic bottles of shampoo and conditioner.

I bought a bar of Hemp Hair and Body Soap from ‘simply soaps’. The sealed wrapper was compostable and the soap palm oil free and containing only natural organic ingredients.

I have temperamental skin so I was very wary of this ‘natural’ product. But this has turned out to be an unnecessary worry. My first use had me jumping with surprise as I had masses of soap bubbles from a few strokes of the soap across my head. I found I could spread the foam over my whole body. The bubbles disappeared quickly as I rinsed myself and I left the shower quicker than usual. After drying myself I was left with a head of soft, manageable hair – much better than usual.

I have used this same bar of soap for at least 4 months. No plastic, less hot water, less water altogether, less time, the wrappers went into the green bin and the soap has disappeared down the drain: it can sometimes be easy to be green!

My friend was going on a camping, adventure holiday in Mongolia and I told her about the soap. She took some with her as it was light to carry and no trouble in airport security. She came back very impressed. She had used it to wash not only her hair and body, but also her clothes, and had had a minimum allocation of water to do this.

A note of caution – keep the soap dry between washes, otherwise you lose it all. Also, we have softened water and it may not work so well in hard water. My daughter who lives in a hard water area in south east London tried it but did not have the same success.

A growing number of outlets selling food and drink in the UK are taking action to ditch plastic amid deepening concern about its effect on the environment, with drinking straws and bottles among items being phased out.

A Guardian investigation this year discovered that a million plastic bottles are bought worldwide every minute, while recent research has revealed that of the 6.3bn tons of plastic waste produced between 1950 and 2015, almost 80% has ended up in landfill or in the environment – including the oceans. Plastic contamination is now found in everything from tap water to sea salt.